Emergency preparedness vest

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for providing emergency food and water and medical supplies in a body worn garment. The garment has a plurality of pockets labeled with their contents in the form of food and water. Other pockets are labeled with the type of injury the contents are intended to treat thereby eliminating the need to search or look into the pockets to find the supplies appropriate to the injury. The garment has a top vest portion worn around the torso and a separable bottom belt portion which can be worn independently as a belt and complete first aid kit by a second person.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention herein disclosed relates generally to emergency responseequipment. More specifically, the invention herein described anddisclosed relates to a custom configurable vest having a plurality ofdifferent pocket enclosures for storage of first aid and survivalsupplies adapted for emergencies which might occur in specificgeographic locations. Further the device includes survival supplies, andfirst aid supplies in a removably engageable belt that can be given toanother person to aid the injured.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Disasters occur in venues and locales around the earth on a regularbasis. Natural disasters include such devastating events as earthquakes,tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and tornados. Man-made disasters can beequally devastating and can be caused accidentally by explosions andindustrial accidents as well as intentionally by terrorists such as therecent attacks in New York City.

No matter how such disasters are caused, the result is inevitably thesame in that many people, lucky enough to survive, are injured. Suchinjuries run the gauntlet from minor to life threatening with both typesof patient in need of first aid. Further, in the period subsequent tothe occurrence of a disaster, frequently people are left to their owndevices to survive for the first few hours or days. Survival of theinjured requires immediate and ongoing medical treatment. Survival ofthe healthy requires a supply of food and water until emergency reliefarrives from the government and from aid agencies.

Additionally, the type of disaster a person might encounter can be verygeographically distinct. For instances people in the Midwest area of theUnited States frequently encounter tornados. However people living onthe West Coast of the United States rarely encounter tornados butfrequently are subjected to brush fires and floods. More recently, theextreme danger post to coastal dwellers has been exhibited by themassive destructive power of tsunamis.

As a consequence of this variable risk of harm to people determined bytheir locale, there can be a variable requirement for the first aidsupplies needed in specific geographic regions. People sufferinginjuries from a tornado in the Midwest may require very differenttreatment for injuries from those suffering burns or smoke inhalation ina West Coast brush fire. As such, the first aid supplies for differingregions of the world may be specialized to the potential harm from thelocal risk of disaster or man-made hazards.

In addition to the first aid supplies that must be available to peopleafter a disaster or accident, food and water for those first few hoursor days, is a requirement to keep the survivors healthy and alive. Whiletastes may vary in geographic locations for food, the nutritional needsof survivors do not and a standardized food supply can be madeavailable.

Such a food and first aid supply should be available on a moment'snotice since there is generally scant warning of the occurrence ofdisasters such as earthquakes and explosions and the like. Food andfirst aid supplies should also be easily carried by the survivors once adisaster or accident has occurred.

Still further, because some survivors may lack first aid training butrequire substance, the ability to easily enable other survivors torender first aid with an available and organized supply of easilycarried first aid supplies is desirable.

In recent times, various devices have attempted to address this need forfood and first aid supplies that are easily transported by survivorsafter a disaster.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,075 (Ingrisano) teaches an emergency medicalservices system for delivering primary care and emergency treatment.However, the vest of Ingrisano is designed solely for use by paramedicsand emergency service personnel. It lacks sufficient food and water forthe recommended three days subsequent to the disaster. Further, it lacksany ability to disburse the supplies to other emergency personnel fortheir use.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,782 (McNamara) features a vest for carrying medicalsupplies. However, McNamara's is designed for military use and has nofood or other survival items. Further, McNamara lacks any ability totransfer first aid supplies to another person or to transfer specificfirst aid supplies to a third party.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,412 (Perry) provides a vest type device whichincludes pockets to hold provisions for the wearer during an emergencysituation. However, the vest of Perry is not designed to carry water andprovides no first aid components in an organized fashion.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,140 (Davis) teaches a garment that is intended foruse by law enforcement. The Davis device while bullet resistant, has nofood or water for the recommended three days subsequent to a disaster.Neither does it provide any organized first aid supplies.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,227 (Brown) discloses a vest adapted for wearing byemergency medical technicians. Its main purpose is to transfer stretcherweight to the body of the wearer. Consequently while it is designed foremergency personnel, it lacks any organized or transferable first aidsupplies or sustenance supplies.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,579 (Marcon) teaches a personal survival vestdesigned to keep the wearer warm in cold environment. While it has aplurality of pockets, it lacks a three-day food and water supply andalso an organized first aid supply that may be transferred to anotherperson in an emergency.

As such there exists a pressing need for a survival garment thatprovides storage for a food and water supply for a person surviving adisaster. Such a device should be easily configurable to the geographiclocation of the potential survivor. Such a device should also contain afirst aid supply that is organized by potential injury, and thecomponents of which are easily transferred to one or more other personsfor their use in providing first aid.

With respect to the above description, before explaining at least onepreferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understoodthat the invention is not limited in its application to the details ofconstruction and to the arrangement of the components or steps set forthin the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The variousapparatus and methods of the invention are capable of other embodimentsand of being practiced and carried out in various ways which will beobvious to those skilled in the art once they review this disclosure.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basisfor designing of other devices, methods and systems for carrying out theseveral purposes of the present disclosed device. It is important,therefore, that the objects and claims be regarded as including suchequivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Further objectives of this invention will be brought out in thefollowing part of the specification, wherein detailed description is forthe purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placinglimitations thereon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The device herein described and disclosed, features a user wearable vestwith a plurality of individual storage compartments. The vest can besized to fit children through large adults or can be manufactured in aone size fits all embodiment. It is easily stored in the home, office,car, or boat for immediate retrieval when needed.

The vest is equipped with a plurality of pockets which may be stockedwith emergency supplies of a general nature or very specific to thelocale where the wearer lives and potential disasters that are morelikely to occur in that venue. Preferably the pockets have a flap thatis highly reflective and bright to make the vest highly visible torescue personnel should the wearer be trapped or lost. For easy use bythe wearer or others, the flaps on the pockets should also clearlyidentify the contents of the individual pockets.

Also in a preferred embodiment of the vest is a plurality of pocketsabout the lower periphery of the vest which contain first aid supplies.It is especially desirable that this plurality of pockets is engagedwith a belt that engages the lower periphery of the vest. This allowsthe first aid supplies, in appropriately labeled pockets on the belt, tobe removed as a separate component of the vest, and given to anotherperson who might be better able to render first aid to third parties.

Additionally desirable in the preferred embodiment of the device ismaking the individual pockets engaged to the belt section specificallypacked with supplies appropriate to specific injuries to provide betterorganization for care givers. Such generally recognized specific firstaid care can include bleeding care, burn care, cut and scrape care, eyeinjury care, bone fracture care, and muscle injury care and theindividual supplies to treat those specific types of injury. The pocketscontaining the supplies specific to the injury type would be bestlabeled with the injury type so responders know which pocket to retrievewhich supplies for which injuries. These individually organized pocketsare, in a preferred mode of the device, separable from the belt so thatthey can be given to another person to treat injuries specific to thecontents of the individual removable pocket. When labeled with the typeof injury the pocket contents is intended to treat, the individualpockets can be removed and given to alternate responders to increase theability of personnel to treat the injured. This allows for maximumutility of the device since the first aid supplies are separable fromthe food and water supplies in the vest, and since the first aidsupplies are separable from the belt for use by a plurality of rescuers.Additionally, by making the individual pockets separable from the belt,the first aid supplies can be organized in each attachable pocket forpotential injuries in a geographic location and engaged to the belt andthe vest to make the vests more specific to the potential threat in agiven locale.

The food, water and survival supplies are stored in clearly labeledpockets of the upper portion of the vest. In the case of food and water,it is prepackaged and sealed for long term storage so that the vest,once stocked, is ready to be used for a long time, and a supply of thevests may be stored and quickly shipped to a disaster area. Otherrecommended contents of the upper portion pockets in the vest would be ablanket, a flashlight, a radio, a whistle, a multipurpose tool, a knifeor shears, and other survival gear specific to the locale and potentialcatastrophe.

Additionally desirable as an optional component would be the provisionof a means for identification of the specific individual to whom thevest is assigned. This identification means will give rescue personnelthe ability to identify the person found if they are unable to do so.This identification means might be a printed identification carddeployed in one of the pockets, or serial number or bar code, or othermeans could be provided that is easily read by the responding personneland compared to data stored at a remote location as to theidentification of the wearer to which the vest was provided. Not onlycould this identification means help identify the wearer, their medicalhistory might also be stored and associated with the serial number orbar code or other identification means so that medical personnel mightaccess it during treatment.

An object of this invention is to provide an article of clothing in theform of a vest that contains food, water, and first aid supplies in aneasily stored device ready for use on a moment's notice.

Another object of this invention is to provide such an emergency vestwhere the plurality of pockets containing sustenance is separable fromthe plurality of pockets containing first aid supplies so that the firstaid supplies may be passed to another person for use in an organized,easy to carry, fashion.

An additional object of this invention is the provision of such aseparable first aid supply that may be worn by a second person withpockets containing first aid supplies specific to different types ofinjuries.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of such aseparable first aid section of the vest that also has the injuryspecific supplies in removably engageable pockets that may be yet givento a plurality of different persons for use.

Yet another object of this invention is the provision of such anemergency garment that may be inventoried with food and first aidsupplies that are specific to the potential catastrophes in a geographicarea.

Another object of this invention is the provision of such an emergencygarment that is highly visible to responders to the emergency to make iteasier to find the wearer.

These together with other objects and advantages which becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of the construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSOCIATED DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a the front of the emergency vestshowing the plurality of pockets for both food and survival gear and forfirst aid supplies.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear of the vest showing theplurality of pockets for storage of food and survival gear on the vestportion and individual pockets for first aid supplies on the detachedbelt portion.

FIG. 3 depicts the separable first aid supply portion of the vestshowing the belt engageable to the bottom edge of the vest and theoptional removable pockets for first aid supplies on the belt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE DISCLOSED DEVICE

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3 disclose the elements of thevarious preferred embodiments of the disclosed device 10 for storage offood, emergency supplies, and first aid supplies for use subsequent to aregional catastrophe.

The device 10 is formed as an article of clothing depicted in the formof a vest which is easily wearable by an adult or child and distributesthe weight of the stored supplies about their torso. The vest isconstructed of two components in the form of an upper vest portion 11and an engageable belt portion 12 which attaches at its upper edge, tothe lower edge 14 of the upper vest portion 11. As shown, the belt 16 onthe upper edge of the belt portion 12 is engaged to the lower edge 14 ofthe vest portion 11 of the device 10 using a fastening removable meansfor engagement such as hook and loop fabric 18 on both respective edges.

Of course those skilled in the art will realize that other means ofremovable attachment of the belt portion 12 to the upper vest portion 11can be employed and such is anticipated. The overriding factor is toallow the belt portion 12 to be separable from the vest portion 11 andthereby be given to another person to wear and use in a responsesituation. Such a separable configuration doubles the utility of thedevice 10 since one emergency responder with supplies, can be multipliedto a plurality of responders with supplies by separating the beltportion 12 and letting the second responder wear it for use in renderingemergency care. Since the pockets are labeled for contents as totreatment of a type of injury, inspection of the inventoried contents isnot required. A means for engagement of the two distal ends of the beltportion 12 is provided in the form of a two component buckle 21 howeverother means for engagement such as hook and loop fabric or buttons orthe like could be employed so long as they allow the belt portion 12 tobe secured around an individual, separate from the upper vest portion11, when the belt portion 12 is separated, and such are anticipated.

As noted above, both the upper vest portion 11 and the belt portion 12are equipped with a plurality of individual pockets 20 which arepreferably pre-stocked with emergency supplies of a specific nature foruse in potential emergencies that might be specific to the locale wherethe wearer lives and to the treatment supplies the contents of thestocked pockets 20 will provide. In a preferred mode, the pockets 20have an opening covered by a flap 22 that is highly reflective andbright in color which imparts a high visibility of the wearer to rescuepersonnel should the wearer be trapped or lost. This reflective indiciaalso allows for easy identification of the contents of the pockets 20when treating injuries, especially if the pockets themselves areseparated from either the vest portion 11 or the belt portion 12 andgiven to additional emergency responders as supplies to treat theinjured.

As noted, in a preferred embodiment, the flaps 22 on the pockets 20 haveindicia 24 printed on them identifying the purpose of the contents ofthe individual pocket 20. Some pockets will have food and water in themand will be labeled accordingly allowing quick and easy access tosustenance when needed by the wearer, or by a third party who may needto access the pocket contents in the event that the wearer isincapacitated. It is especially desirable to place sufficient inventoryof food and water in these pockets 20 to last the wearer at least 3 dayssubsequent to a disaster. The water would be in sealed containers andthe food packaged for very long term storage such as freeze dried typefood or Military Ready to Eat (MRE's) packaged food. This will allow forlong term storage of the vests, fully stocked with food, water, andmedical supplies, on-site for the potential users.

Also in a preferred embodiment of the device, the plurality of pockets20 located about the removable belt portion 12, would best be outfittedwith first aid supplies. By placing such medical supplies in theremovable belt portion 12 the wearer can give another responder theability to take the first aid supplies in the removable belt portion 12and respond to other victims in a catastrophe. If the wearer is not anemergency responder, the pockets of the vest portion 11 would probablyonly contain food and water and the belt portion, the first aidsupplies. This would allow a non trained wearer to give the emergencysupplies to an emergency responder but still keep their own supply offood and water in their vest.

As noted, in manufacturing the device for storage and use in emergenciesin differing geographic locations, it would be advantageous to stock theindividual pockets 20 engaged to the belt section 12 with first aid andmedical supplies to treat injuries most likely to occur in disasterslikely to happen in the specific geographic location. Tornado proneareas would have more supplies for cuts and fractures whereas earthquakeprone areas might have a differing type of supplies provided based onthe injuries most likely to happen in an earthquake. Companies can thusorder pre-stocked vests for disbursement to their employees during anemergency and have them stocked with food and water for everyone in somepockets 20, and medical supplies in other pockets 20 inventoried for themost likely injuries to occur in disasters in their geographic locale.

Still further, the indicia 24 identifying the purpose of the contents ofthe pockets 20 will provide inexperienced users and professionalresponders with kits of supplies that are organized to treat specifictypes of injuries. The pockets containing the supplies specific to theinjury type would be labeled with the indicia 24 for the injury type soresponders know which pocket to retrieve which supplies for whichinjuries. Optionally but especially useful in a preferred mode of thedevice, would be to render the individually organized, and indicialabeled pockets 20, separable from the belt portion 12 as shown in FIG.3 and/or from the vest portion shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This separationof pockets 20 with their respective contents, would allow for individualfirst aid kits with supplies to treat specific injuries to be taken offthe belt portion 12 and given to one or a plurality of other respondersto treat the injured and to easily know, without opening the pocket 20,which supplies are inside to treat which type of injury. In thisfashion, the pockets 20 with the specific injury first aid supplies canbe given to another person to treat injuries specific to the contents ofthe individual removable pocket. This separability of both the beltportion 12 and the pockets 20 especially from the belt portion 12 andoptionally the vest portion 11, affords maximum utility of the device 10since the first aid supplies are separable from the food and watersupplies in the vest, and since the first aid supplies are separable inpocketed kits from the belt for use by a plurality of rescuers.

In addition to food and water in the pockets 20 on the upper vestportion 11, other survival gear can be inventoried such as a blanket, aflashlight, a radio, a whistle, a multipurpose tool, a knife or shears,and other survival gear specific to the locale and potentialcatastrophe.

Additional utility is provided to the device 10 by the optionalinclusion of a means for identification of the specific individual towhom the vest is assigned. This allows easy identification by rescue orother personnel. This identification means might be a printedidentification card 26 in a pocket 20 or behind a transparent pocketwall as shown in FIG. 1. Or, a bar code 28 may provide the means forwearer identification and if the vest were purchased from a centralauthority or company, the bar code 28 or identification card 26 inaddition to providing personal identification, can cross reference to acomputer database with the wearers medical history which can becommunicated to a responder in an emergency if the wearer is not capableof doing so.

Although the invention has been described with respect to particularembodiments thereof, it should be realized that various changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. While the invention as shown in the drawings anddescribed in detail herein discloses arrangements of elements ofparticular construction and configuration for illustrating preferredembodiments of structure and method of operation of the presentinvention, it is to be understood, however, that elements of differentconstruction and configuration and other arrangements thereof, otherthan those illustrated and described, may be employed in accordance withthe spirit of this invention. Any and all such changes, alterations andmodifications, as would occur to those skilled in the art, areconsidered to be within the scope of this invention as broadly definedin the appended claims.

Further, the purpose of the attached abstract is to enable the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially thescientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe application. The abstract is neither intended to define theinvention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is itintended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

1. A survival supply garment for a person comprising: a vest portionhaving neck and arm openings and adapted for wearing about the torso bya human; said vest portion having an outside surface and a bottom edge;a belt portion, said belt portion having an exterior surface extendingbetween two distal ends and having a top edge; means for removableengagement of said distal ends to each other; means for removableengagement of said top edge of said belt to said bottom edge of saidvest portion; a plurality of vest pockets, said plurality of vestpockets having a sealable aperture providing access to an interiorcavity; said interior cavity of said vest pockets adapted for holding asupply of food and water for said wearer; means for engagement of saidvest pockets said outside surface of said vest portion; a plurality ofbelt pockets; means for engagement of said belt pockets to said exteriorsurface of said belt portion; and said belt pockets having a sealableopening providing access to an inside cavity, said inside cavity beinginventoried with first aid supplies, whereby said belt is separable fromsaid vest as a wearable first aid kit for a second person whileconcurrently leaving said person wearing said remaining vest portion,with a supply of food and water.
 2. The survival supply garment of claim1 additionally comprising: said belt pockets being removably engageablewith said exterior surface whereby said individual belt pockets andtheir contents may be removed and thereby each become a separable firstaid kit which may be given to one or a plurality of other users.
 3. Thesurvival supply garment of claim 1 wherein each of said belt pockets areinventoried with first aid supplies for injuries likely to occur inemergencies common to the geographic area in which the survival supplygarment is intended for use.
 4. The survival supply garment of claim 2wherein each of said belt pockets are inventoried with first aidsupplies for injuries likely to occur in emergencies common to thegeographic area in which the survival supply garment is intended foruse.
 5. The survival supply garment of claim 1 additionally comprising:at least one of said belt pockets being labeled with indicia; saidindicia indicating the specific injury type the contents of saidrespective belt pocket is intended to treat, whereby said contents maybe accessed for treating said specific injury type without the need tolook at said contents prior to usage to ascertain suitability to theintended injury treatment.
 6. The survival supply garment of claim 2additionally comprising: indicia on at least one of said belt pockets,said indicia indicating the specific injury type the contents of saidrespective belt pocket is intended to treat; and whereby said beltpocket may become said separable first aid kits when separated from saidbelt portion and given to other users to treat said specific injury typeindicated, without looking at said contents of said respective beltpocket.
 7. The survival supply garment of claim 3 additionallycomprising: at least one of said belt pockets being labeled withindicia; said indicia indicating the specific injury type the contentsof said respective belt pocket is intended to treat, whereby saidcontents may be accessed for treating said specific injury type withoutthe need to look at said contents prior to usage to ascertainsuitability to the intended injury treatment.
 8. The survival supplygarment of claim 4 additionally comprising: indicia on at least one ofsaid belt pockets, said indicia indicating the specific injury type thecontents of said respective belt pocket is intended to treat; andwhereby said belt pocket may become said separable first aid kits whenseparated from said belt portion and given to other users to treat saidspecific injury type indicated, without looking at said contents of saidrespective belt pocket.
 9. The survival supply garment of claim 1additionally comprising: said vest pockets having an inventory of foodand water stored therein sufficient for three days survival by saidperson wearing said survival supply garment.
 10. The survival supplygarment of claim 2 additionally comprising: said vest pockets having aninventory of food and water stored therein sufficient for three dayssurvival by said person wearing said survival supply garment.
 11. Thesurvival supply garment of claim 3 additionally comprising: said vestpockets having an inventory of food and water stored therein sufficientfor three days survival by said person wearing said survival supplygarment.
 12. The survival supply garment of claim 4 additionallycomprising: said vest pockets having an inventory of food and waterstored therein sufficient for three days survival by said person wearingsaid survival supply garment.
 13. The survival supply garment of claim 7additionally comprising: said vest pockets having an inventory of foodand water stored therein sufficient for three days survival by saidperson wearing said survival supply garment.
 14. The survival supplygarment of claim 8 additionally comprising: said vest pockets having aninventory of food and water stored therein sufficient for three dayssurvival by said person wearing said survival supply garment.
 15. Thesurvival supply garment of claim 1 additionally comprising: indicia onsaid outside surface, said indicia identifying the person issued saidsurvival supply garment whereby said person may be identified ifincapacitated.
 16. The survival supply garment of claim 2 additionallycomprising: indicia on said outside surface, said indicia identifyingthe person issued said survival supply garment whereby said person maybe identified if incapacitated.
 17. The survival supply garment of claim11 additionally comprising: indicia on said outside surface, saidindicia identifying the person issued said survival supply garmentwhereby said person may be identified if incapacitated.
 18. The survivalsupply garment of claim 12 additionally comprising: indicia on saidoutside surface, said indicia identifying the person issued saidsurvival supply garment whereby said person may be identified ifincapacitated.
 19. The survival supply garment of claim 13 additionallycomprising: indicia on said outside surface, said indicia identifyingthe person issued said survival supply garment whereby said person maybe identified if incapacitated.
 20. A method of providing survivalsupplies adapted for potential disasters likely to occur in differinggeographic locations, comprising the steps of: providing a vest withvest pockets inventoried with three days food and water; providing abelt having belt pockets thereon with said belt removably engageablewith said vest; stocking said belt pockets with first aid suppliesadapted for use in injuries most likely to occur in the geographic areaof intended use of the survival supplies; and providing the ability forsaid belt to be separated from said vest and used by a second person, asa first aid kit independent of said vest.